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Explore 12.000 specimens drawn from Harvard's vast research collections at the University's most visited museum. Highlights include the world famous Ware Collection glass art exhibit of 3.000 "Glass Flowers", amazingly realistic models of plants, fruits and flowers created by father-son glass flameworkers Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka from 1886-1936. Among the other 17 galleries, are "Sea Creatures in Glass", Blaschkas'...

Explore 12.000 specimens drawn from Harvard's vast research collections at the University's most visited museum. Highlights include the world famous Ware Collection glass art exhibit of 3.000 "Glass Flowers", amazingly realistic models of plants, fruits and flowers created by father-son glass flameworkers Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka from 1886-1936. Among the other 17 galleries, are "Sea Creatures in Glass", Blaschkas' earlier models of marine animals, "Language of Color", how animals perceive and communicate with color, "Looking at Leaves: Photographs by Amanda Means", and paintings by Jacques Burkhardt of Agassiz's Thayer expedition to Brazil. The museum is on the Harvard University campus, just a short 7-10 minute walk through historic Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square MBTA Red Line T station. Open daily, 9 am - 5 pm, 361 days/year. Handicapped accessible. Explore www.hmnh.harvard.edu for changing exhibitions, dozens of lectures, events, classes for all ages, year round.

Upcoming Events

Nature Storytime: Harvard Museum of Natural History

Children 6 and under are invited to join Harvard Museum of Natural History staff for Nature Storytime every Saturday & Sunday at 11 am & 2pm. Enjoy stories and poems designed to engage the next generation of explorers with themes related to the museum's galleries.

The Glass Flowers

3,000 amazingly realistic models of plants, flowers and fruits, painstakingly crafted in glass from 1886 to 1936 by German glass artists, father and son Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka. Some 4,000 models were made by just two men, Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son Rudolph (1857-1939). Heirs to a long tradition of glass-working in Bohemia,...

Sea Creatures in Glass: Blaschka Models of Marine Invertebrates

Sea Creatures in Glass: Blaschka Models of Marine Invertebrates is a new exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History featuring recently restored invertebrate models created by famed glass artists Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka. From delicate jellyfish and anemones to tentacled squid and bizarre sea slugs, these spectacular models were...

Birds of the World

Boasting over 10,000 species, birds are the most diverse land vertebrates on the planet, surpassing the biological diversity of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Thriving in every corner of the globe, from tropical forests to polar ice caps, birds vary tremendously in habit and size, from diminutive bee hummingbirds to towering 10-foot-high...

Over the last decade, natural gas extracted from shale rock formations (shale gas) has become an important source of energy in North America. These abundant natural gas resources offer tremendous economic potential and are reshaping the landscape of energy production, including fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy options. Natural gas is also...

Evolution Matters Lecture Series. : Written in Stone-Reading Earth’s Library of Planetary History

We live on a mature planet shaped by four billion years of evolution and environmental change. But what was Earth like in its youth and adolescence? To find out, Harvard Professor of Natural History, Andrew Knoll travels to remote locations in search of rocks that reveal the deep history of Earth and the life it supports. Focusing on...

Go Wild! Connecting Kids with Nature

Connecting people, especially children, with nature is crucial to their health and the health of places they call home. In the age of Google and iPhones, however, finding a balance between technology and the natural world is increasingly difficult. In this interactive presentation, Scott Sampson—the host of the hit PBS KIDS...

Prather Lecture Series: Science in Policy and Politics

Jane Lubchenco was the first woman to be appointed Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Drawing on her experience at the helm of NOAA from 2009 to 2013, Lubchenco will discuss how this government agency advances and utilizes scientific...

Evolution Matters Lecture Series: Evolution in a Vortex - Fish Diversity in the Lower Congo Area

Some of the most spectacular cataracts, falls, and gorges on Earth are found in the lower Congo River, in the heart of central Africa, near the twin Congolese capitals of Kinshasa and Brazzaville. This stretch of the river is also home to over 300 different species of fish, many with unique adaptations—including bizarre...

Harvard Museum of Natural History Presents: On the Wing - A Celebration of Birds in Music

Join Harvard Museum of Natural History for On the Wing :A Celebration of Birds in Music and Spoken Word, a special afternoon of music and poetry that celebrates birds as symbols of freedom, beauty, and wonderment. Listen to original songs composed by Andrew List and performed by mezzo-soprano Krista River and pianist George Lopez,...

Harvard Museum of Natural History Presents: Exploring Neurobiology and Music

The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture present a special evening of music and science featuring Project LENS, a performance collaborative that seeks to reveal connections between music and a wide variety of topics as eclectic as evolution, 3D printing, humor, law, and birdsong. Join Project LENS members Ariel Mitnick, Rainer Crosett, and...

Islands: Evolving in Isolation

With bizarre woodpecker-like primates, dwarf humans, and flightless birds over nine feet high, islands are havens for some of the most unusual living creatures on our planet. Why are islands such hotspots of biodiversity and how does evolution work within these isolated pockets of life? Islands: Evolving in Isolation is a new Harvard Museum of...

Past Events

Evolution Matters Series: Natural History Collections and Evolution

Billions of plant and animal specimens are found in natural history collections around the world. The result of nearly 250 years of scientific investigation, discovery, and inventory of living and fossil organisms, these collections provide an irreplaceable record of the history and diversity of life on Earth and are fundamental to...

I Heart Science

Embrace your love of science! Explore fossils of long-extinct animals. Try your hand at sketching a mammal, excavating a mock dinosaur dig, or discovering life in a rotting log. Meet a live scorpion and tarantula. Bring a rock, mineral, or shell to be identified by members of the Boston Mineral Club or the Boston Malacological Club. Talk with...

Whale Conservation and the Future of Oceans

Whales have long been valued as a source of oil and whalebone. Treated as a commodity throughout history, they are increasingly recognized for their complex forms of communication, even culture, and the ecological role they play in the ocean. Joe Roman, Sarah and Daniel Hrdy Visiting Fellow in Conservation Biology, Harvard University;...

K-T Mass Extinction: What Really Killed the Dinosaurs?

About 66 million years ago, 70 percent of all the species that existed at the time, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct in an apocalypse widely thought to have been caused by a meteor or comet impact on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. At approximately the same time, a series of volcanic eruptions in Western India produced...

Brown ash trees sustain the ancestral basket-making traditions of the Wabanaki people of Maine and play a key role in their creation myths. These trees are now threatened by the emerald ash borer, a beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in the eastern United States. Wabanaki tribes and basket makers have joined forces with...

The Art and Science of The Unfeathered Bird

Imagine that you could see beneath the fluff and feather of a bird to view bone and muscle in action. What would this perspective reveal about movement, structure, and evolution? The Unfeathered Bird is a magnum opus, twenty-five years in the making, which features 385 finely-rendered drawings and paintings of 200 bird species. In a...

Mummies, Mildews, Manna, and Mosses: Four Kingdoms under One Roof

The Farlow Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany is steward of a world-class collection of books, archives, and specimens related to four different types of organisms—fungi, protista, plants, and monera—that play key roles in nature and society. Founded by William G. Farlow in the nineteenth century, the collection...

Bird Extinctions in the Hawaiian Islands

Helen F. James, Curator of Birds, Smithsonian Institution, takes us to an archipelago that has been an epicenter for bird extinctions: the Hawaiian Islands. When people first set foot there approximately 800 years ago, the islands were home to a rich diversity of birds that included many unusual—even flightless—species. Most of...

Kick off summer with the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture’s annual Summer Solstice celebration, held in conjunction with Make Music Harvard Square! Enjoy a fun evening of telescope viewings, music, and hands-on activities for all ages at the Harvard Plaza, with free evening admission to four HMSC museums --the Harvard Museum...

Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge

For millennia, eastern hemlock trees have held irreplaceable cultural value and created unique forest habitat across New England. Today, eastern hemlocks are disappearing from our forests, falling by the tens of thousands as prey to an exotic insect foe. In the new book Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge, eight Harvard Forest researchers...

WHERE DID ALL THESE APPLES COME FROM?

Many members of the rose family bear delicious fruits, such as raspberries, pears, and peaches, while others impress us with stunning flowers and sweet fragrances. Apples, one of the favorite members of the family, have a storied past that began thousands of years ago in Kazakhstan. Experience the diversity of this family as we carefully...

A Window on Eternity: Exploring Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park

Located in central Mozambique, the Gorongosa National Park (http://www.gorongosa.org) is home to an extraordinary diversity of ecosystems and wildlife. Established in 1960, Gorongosa was nearly destroyed during Mozambique’s civil war. Thanks to a public-private partnership created in 2004 by the government of Mozambique and the U.S.-based...

Sketching Trees

Explore an amazing variety of tree forms using pencil and paper in beautiful Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge. We will focus on capturing the shapes and volume of trunks and branches, and techniques for drawing foliage. Taught by artist and educator, Erica Beade. All skill levels are welcome.

Worldly Worlding: Curating the Imaginal Fields of Science and Art

In this lecture, curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev questions how we define artistic practice and research through examples of artworks and displays created for dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel Germany (2012), and further investigates how exhibits based on...

The Art of Drawing Birds

Learn to capture birds with pencil and paper in this hands-on workshop. Explore avian anatomy as it applies to drawing birds, step-by-step methods for developing your bird sketch, techniques for achieving greater accuracy and for capturing feather textures. Discuss tips for field sketching, particularly useful for birders and those interested...

Avian Adaptation in a Changing World

Over millions of years, birds have evolved a great diversity in size, shape, coloration and behavior, allowing them to exploit habitats all over the globe. Join us in discovering how birds are changing today in response to human impacts, such as climate change, habitat disruption, urbanization and disease. Learn how these impacts have affected...

Capturing Feathers, Fur, and Scales with Pencil and Paper

Which animals are covered in feathers, fur, or scales? We will explore the subject by looking closely at a variety of specimens in the classroom and galleries, and learn how to capture these different animals and textures on paper using realistic-drawing techniques. Taught by artist and educator, Erica Beade.

The Life and Legacy of the Passenger Pigeon

The passenger pigeon once ruled the skies of North America; numbering in the billions, they made up more than twenty-five percent of the region’s bird population in the mid-1800s. By 1914, however, the species was extinct—a downfall hastened by America’s growing hunger for land development and hunting. Author and...

Body of Knowledge: A History of Anatomy

Body of Knowledge: A History of Anatomy explores the study and teaching of anatomy, not only as a process of mapping body structures, but also as a complex social and cultural activity. The exhibit traces a wide variety of anatomical practices through three important periods in the history of anatomy: the sixteenth, nineteenth, and...

Building Earth-like Planets: From Gas and Dust to Ocean Worlds

How do planets form and what makes them habitable? Where might life be found beyond our solar system? Linda Elkins-Tanton, an expert in planet formation and evolution, will discuss how violent impacts that are the “final act” of a planet’s creation may not always wipe out water and carbon from the early-growth period. Enough...

Wild Animal Neighbors

In cities and suburbs around the world, wild creatures such as coyotes, alligators, and mountain lions are showing up where least expected. How can they survive in the modern world of concrete, steel, and glass? Ann Downer discusses the factors that bring these creatures to our backyards and ways to create spaces for people and animals to...

Final Flight: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon

Final Flight: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the last passenger pigeon, a species that once filled North America’s skies by the billions. In this small exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, see one of the world’s last mounted specimens of this now vanquished bird and...

Lost Cities and Landscapes in the Heart of the Assyrian Empire

In 2012, Harvard University began a new archaeological project in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. This area was the core of the great Assyrian empire (ca. 900–600 BC), which at its largest stretched from Egypt to Iran. The project marked the return of Harvard to Kurdistan after an absence of over eighty years. Archaeologist Jason...

Time Travel in Experimental Evolution

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common form of intestinal bacteria that reproduces and mutates with incredible speed. This trait, along with scientists’ ability to freeze and revive organisms (a form of “time travel”), makes E. coli an ideal organism for studying the evolutionary process. Microbiologist Richard Lenski has...

The Sun Temple of Nefertiti: Sex and Death

The discovery of the “lost” sun temple of Nefertiti has revealed new aspects of the Aten cult overseen by the famous Egyptian queen. Jacquelyn Williamson will discuss new research that links Nefertiti’s temple to funerary activities at Tell el-Amarna and to sexual aspects of regeneration.

Discovering Thoreau the Geologist

Robert M. Thorson, Professor of Geology, University of Connecticut
Author Talk and Book Signing.
Henry David Thoreau’s contributions to botany are well documented. Far less known was his passion for the physical sciences, especially geology. Robert Thorson’s new book, Walden’s Shore, is the first-ever book to...

Dinosaur Walkabout

What was it like to walk with dinosaurs? Pick up your Dinosaur Walkabout map at the front desk to explore the museum in search of real specimens and scientific evidence for a dinosaur world more amazing than anything you might have imagined. Get ready for the new movie Walking with Dinosaurs 3D by learning more about dinosaurs and the...

Thoreau's Maine Woods: A Journey in Photographs with Scot Miller

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Henry David Thoreau's The Maine Woods, the Harvard Museum of Natural History offers an exhibition of prints by photographer Scot Miller, who has traversed the state of Maine for years retracing the footsteps of New England's native son, Henry David Thoreau. Opening Saturday,...

Illustrating Animals: A Comic Book Workshop

Maris Wicks, comic artist and illustrator of Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas, will talk about how she did drawing research for the comic book, and help kids make their own comic strip about their favorite animal in the museum....

Drawing Animals: A three-week course for adults

Saturdays, November 2, 9, and 16, 9:30am – 12:00pm
Taught by illustrator, artist and educator Erica Beade, this course introduces students to basic techniques that they can continue to expand on their own. The first half of each session will be spent in the classroom practicing techniques such as shading, working from general...

Animal Artists: A Four-week Course

Sketch face-to-face with a zebra, ostrich, or tiger in the museum! Students focus on new animals each week, practice using different media, and gain confidence in their skills. Taught by educator, artist and illustrator Erica Beade. Returning students are welcome and will deepen their skills each time.
Advance registration required....

Capturing Tidepool Animals with Pencil and Paper

How do animals live at the edge of the ocean? Explore the underwater world by sketching museum specimens and live animals with artist and educator, Erica Beade. Practice realistic-drawing techniques in both black and white and color and learn more as you closely observe horseshoe crabs, snails, and other tidepool animals with a Harvard...

Chasing Ice: Film Screening & Panel Discussion

Attend a free public screening of the award-winning documentary Chasing Ice (2012, directed by Jeff Orlowski), the story of National Geographic photographer James Balog's epic journey through the Arctic in search of undeniable visual evidence of climate...

Summer Science Weeks

Let your children spend a week of the summer at the Museum! Through a rich variety of activities, games, and study in the galleries, students will have fun while learning. Seven different programs cater to a range of ages. Register online.

The Shadow of the Quagga: What a Long-lost Zebra Reveals about Horses, Evolution, and Extinction

The quagga, a South African relative of horses and zebras, has been a key figure in the understanding of evolution since Darwin. A lecture by Eric Scott, Curator of Paleontology at San Bernardino County Museum.

Parking/Directions: See website for details. An 8 minute walk through Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square red line T stop.

The Human Shore: Seacoasts in History

More than half of Americans now live within 50 miles of ocean, but should they? John Gillis (Rutgers University) argues that an inadequate understanding of the natural and human history of our shores has left communities unprepared for coastal dwelling.

Parking/Directions: See website for details. An 8 minute walk through Harvard...

Summer Solstice: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture

Celebrate the longest day of the year with live music, solar telescope viewing from the roof of the Science Center, food trucks, hands-on activities on the new Harvard Plaza, and free admission to all four of the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture (Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Peabody...

Law of the Locusts: What Insect Swarms Teach Us about Cannibalism, Aging, and Human Obesity

Locust swarms can be one of the most destructive plagues to mankind, but they also offer important new insights into the causes of human obesity, the aging process, and the complexities of crowd behavior. Australian biologist Steve Simpson (University of Sydney) will take us on a strange journey from insect swarms to human health.

Chimpanzee Futures in a Crowded World: Lessons from Western Uganda

A presentation by Richard Wrangham and Elizabeth Ross. Recognizing the inseparable link between environmental and human prosperity, Harvard’s Wrangham and Ross have devoted 25 years to ensuring the future of Uganda’s Kibale National Park, its rainforest and wildlife, and the health and education of schoolchildren in the surrounding...

Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures

Science author Virginia Morell looks at the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion and offers a moving exploration of the hearts and minds of both wild and domesticated animals. Parking/Directions: See website for details. An 8 minute walk through Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square red line T stop.

Close Cousins: Chimpanzee Program for Kids with Zarin Machanda

Discover our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, with primatologist Zarin Machanda, who studies great apes in Africa. In this hands-on and interactive presentation, we’ll handle chimpanzee “toys” and “tools”, look at real chimp skulls and teeth, watch short videos of chimps in the wild, and learn how similar...

Capturing Imaginary Animals with Pencil and Paper (Ages 9–13)

Bring your creature drawings to life! We'll invent our own imaginary animals, using real world animals for inspiration. Looking closely at lions, tigers and bears (as well as fish, birds, beetles and reptiles), we’ll explore some imaginative drawing techniques you can use to create a whole world of creatures inspired by nature.

Earth & Planetary Sciences Gallery

The newly-renovated Earth & Planetary Sciences gallery features a spectacular array of stunning minerals and intriguing rocks from the collections of Harvard’s Mineralogical and Geological Museum, some of which will be on public display for the very first time. Visitors will come face to face with rock and mineral specimens that date...

FROM THE BIG BANG TO BROADWAY: How Things Evolve

A lecture by Robert Hazen, Research Scientist, Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory and Professor of Earth Sciences, George Mason University. Evolution by natural selection has long been a lightning rod for anti-science rhetoric, but Darwin’s opponents must now face the evidence that complex evolving systems also drive phenomena beyond life...

STORIES THROUGH TIME FAMILY FESTIVAL

Take a time travel trip. Consider how our human ancestors lived. Play a 3,000-year-old game. Visualize changes in season and climate. Using specimens from the museum collections and special hands-on activities, Stories Through Time invites you to explore our past with faculty, students and curators from Harvard's science and cultural museums....

TIME TRAILS Gallery Exploration

Explore the concept of time revealed in specimens specially marked with a 'time piece' located throughout the galleries of the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Find extraterrestrial rocks "as old as time"; look closer at giant clams whose shells, like tree rings, show each year's growth; or seek out fossilized dinosaur footprints...

Creature Creators 6-Week DRAWING CLASS (Ages 7–12)

Do you wonder how artists create imaginary creatures like the ones in Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Monsters, Inc.? They study and draw real animals and then let their imaginations fly! In this 6 week drawing class we will take a close look at real animals in the museum, examining teeth, talons, wings and tails, and apply what we have...

Capturing Feathers, Fur & Scales with Pencil & Paper (Ages 9–13)

Which animals are covered in feathers, fur, or scales? We’ll explore the subject by looking closely at a variety of specimens in the classroom and galleries, and learn how to capture these different animals and textures on paper using realistic drawing techniques.

February School Vacation Week Activity: Look Listen Touch

The Museum will offer Look Listen Touch, a guide for young children to explore the Museum's New England Forests, in the Zofnass Family Gallery. Pick-up the exploration flyer at the front desk or in the gallery and learn how to help your child experience nature in a multi-sensory way. Sit on the bench beneath the wolf; shut your eyes and listen....

Capturing Birds of Prey with Pencil & Paper (Ages 9–13)

Fierce talons, strong beaks, sharp vision? Look closely at hawk, eagle and owl specimens to discover what makes these birds such excellent hunters. Using specimens in the classroom and galleries, we’ll explore how to capture their forms on paper using realistic drawing techniques.

Capturing Fish with Pencil and Paper (Ages 9–13)

Draw face-to-face with a shark! Join us for an afternoon exploring the world of fish. We'll look at the features that make fish successful in their underwater world, and learn some techniques for drawing them realistically.

Drawing the Animals

Drawing the Animals Adult drawing class
Instructor: Erica Beade
SATURDAYS, JANUARY 26, FEBRUARY 2, FEBRUARY 9, 9:30–NOON
Join us for a course in observational drawing as we explore the museum's collections from a new perspective. Artist and educator Erica Beade will introduce you to basic techniques in the classroom and...

Why Violence Has Declined: Lecture & Book Signing with Steven Pinker

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
Lecture and booksigning with Steven Pinker

To mark the paperback edition of his bestseller, Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker discusses why violence has been diminishing for millennia and and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species'...

Meet the Artist: A Drop-in Activity with Marc Socié, Illustrator for Cockroaches

Meet the Artist
A Drop-in Activity with Marc Socié
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 11:00 AM-12 PM AND 1:00-2:00 PM
Stop by the HMNH's Arthropods gallery and meet Marc Socie, the creator of the custom illustrations featured in the new Cockroaches mini-exhibit. Observe and talk to Marc as he draws, and learn about the role that...

Fishes: A New Exhibition

Fishes: Reopened June 2012. Explore the diversity of fishes from gars to groupers and stonefishes to seahorses. The exhibition redisplays some long-time visitor favorites including the hammerhead and mako sharks, the massive bluefin tuna, and the prickly porcupine fish, and adds many new specimens borrowed from the Ichthyology Collections of...

Mollusks: Shelled Masters of the Marine Realm

Mollusks: Shelled Masters of the Marine Realm, a new exhibition opening February 18, 2012 at Harvard Museum of Natural History, will explore mollusks' amazing diversity and feature recent discoveries about their evolutionary history. Mollusks are amazingly varied in both size and anatomical structure, as well as in their behaviors and...

New England Forests, New Exhibition

New England Forests, a permanent multi-media exhibition explores the natural history our regional forests. Explore the world of woodland caribou, beaver, otter and dozens of other wildlife of New England; learn about lichen cities that cling to rocks; and the circle of life within and around a forest pond from tiny tadpoles to giant moose. A...

Language of Color

Explore the extraordinary diversity of Nature's palette. Learn how color is produced and how and why color variation has evolved in an amazing variety of animals. Learn about mimicry, camouflage, and how animals communicate with color. See brilliant live poison dart frogs, and learn how and why zebras have different stripes.